Rolling in that Fashion Life

I’ve been holding this back for too long but now I’m on the road and that’s all that matters.

It’s pretty difficult to make sense of your life before you hit the big 21, much less know what you wanna do in your future and take action for it. After a few hard knocks and soul digging talks with myself, I found what might make my life spark. Fashion.

I know what most of the nay-sayers are thinking. Fashion? That’s pretty cliché. It’s easy and every single girl that you see with a white instagram feed filled with OOTDs are doing it. Yes, and that’s what is remarkable about fashion. It could be really superficial or profound depending on how you see it. In mainstream media, it’s made up of celebrities, models, top brand names with everyone else trying to chase after the latest trends. But in my world, it’s not about frantically chasing after all those short-lived fads. Fashion to me is history, culture, music, architecture, lifestyle and personalities expressed in our day-to-day life.

For those following me on social media, you might already know I’m in the fifth week of my fashion studies. Follow me on instagram @ Bellwether Child!

Of course, I’m still in the process of learning. Everyday is a blessing for me to be doing what I have interest in. No more falling asleep during classes haha.

So far I have already learn how to sew a basic T-shirt, draw digital images, pattern drafting and understanding how the real industry works. And I emphasis on REAL because fashion might seem glam on the outside but you don’t know how hard and tiring the designers, seamstress, production workers have worked.

One thing that really opened my eyes up and sent me from the perspective of a consumer to a potential designer is, for the consumers, what we always want is fast, cheap and good quality. But before you throw away that $5 shirt from Cotton On, do you know how much resources is used to make those clothing? In order to try to cut down on costs and offer cheaper clothes to consumers, manufacturers and brands will try to cut down on fabrics used, and when there is nothing left more to cut, they start cutting down on wages of those who work in their garment factories. Moving factories to third world countries, working in a very much less ideal environment for 12 hours per day, they only earn that little to get by each day.

Though it might just be a little future goal of mine, I want to do everything in my power to make a little change. Even if it doesn’t change the whole world, at least I’m doing something. Who knows what the future might bring? Maybe the industry will change for the better? Like my trainer say, she doesn’t believe in the whole fast fashion thing. It hurts the industry, it hurts the people in it. Quality is sacrificed for it and in turn people buys cheap clothing that gets thrown out soon enough.

In turn, I stopped buying apparel recklessly. I would actually be willing to spend more for a quality piece that I could see myself wearing for a good amount of time.

Okay, how did this post turn into a depressing one? HAHA. Till next time, Ciao!

Hey There 2016!

I’m so glad 2016 has finally came! I don’t know why but I’m pretty hyped up about this year! Probably cause I’ve had a few plans for this brand new year!

If you guys didn’t know, I’ve already graduated from polytechnic last year and I’m not planning on enrolling in any university. Though I might have sometimes felt a little left out on all those uni funs (or more like uni woes!), I know myself that getting another business degree was not what I could bear with for another 2 years or more. Honestly, you should know it’s really competitive in Singapore and without a degree, it’s probably hard to get a white collar job. I would have went to Uni if I wanted to become one of those shoebox workers.

But I guess it works out well since I prefer a design career anyways. Though these few years, I’ve learn more about myself and I know if you want me to get productive, then work environment is relatively important. I couldn’t be confine to a space and work my ass off there. I wanna see the world, meet new people, learn about new cultures and experience all that life has to offer.

So, I’m going to be embarking on my studies in Apparels Design and Product Development. ( Fashion Design ) It has always been my kiddy dream since young but it seem so hard to attain that I’ve given up many times. I’ve always wanted to be a world known designer, and you know how small that chance of becoming is. I guess I’ve always been taking it all wrong… Right now, I realised that I don’t have to be famous to make myself happy. Sometimes, making a change in your perspective gives you the courage to go forth with your dreams. Now, I just want to do what I love and I’ll look forward to the day where I create beautiful apparels that brings confidence in women. I hope to one day inspire and empower individuals to follow their dreams. Till then, do follow me through this journey!

Alright so that’s my plans for the first half of the year. I’m gonna study my ass off! Will be busy with school till around May? During that period, I hope to be able to start on my volunteering plans with either animal shelters or the orphanage or at old folks homes. I’ve always wanted to give back to the society. Especially when I’ve recieved so much love from the people around me, I want to share that joy and make a difference in other people’s lives too, no matter how small that difference is. If any of you have suggestions, recommendations or even want to volunteer with me, do let me know! I would love to hear from you!

Music has remain my passion all along. I still remember when I was young, I would shamelessly dance and sing in front of my family, imagining I’m having a concert! Lucky there’s no video of that! But I guess I could credit that being in the Chinese dance club during my kindergarten days. I was the most flexible then okays! I was able to do all sorts of crazy ass poses that make it seem like I don’t have bones to speak of. HAHA. I also enjoyed the days my secondary school where I just YOLO and formed a dance group with my friends and even took part in school dance competitions. Not to mention we performed in front of the whole school during special events. And I also forgot my lyrics while singing in front of the whole cohort too. That was embarrassing! AND I’VE GOT A VIDEO ON THAT.

Since I’m having so much fun in that, why stop? Yupp, I’m planning to start again. Though it would be a little embarrassing, I’ll slowly but surely produce something so look forward to it!

Finally, it seems that our family has not been on a family trip other than going back to Thailand… and I wanna bring forward my plans for going on a family trip while my dad’s legs are still able to get him to places. Most probably gonna bring them to Taiwan or a cruise? Yupp! Gonna look forward to all the night market street foods!! I miss Taiwan food!

Love, Jaz

Thailand Trip 2015 Part 2 – Bangkok

After spending 4 Day 3 Nights at Phuket, we took off in Thailand’s domestic carrier, Nok Air, to Bangkok! Time to stock up on my clothes, bags and shoes heh!

Terminal 21

We head on to the Terminal 21 mall near our Airbnb place for our first dinner in Bangkok! As a fan of airports, the whole concept of the mall as a departure hall really resonates with me but I’m pretty lost inside the mall cause of it’s internal layout with it’s many escalators each going to different floors. But it’s definitely worth a visit especially if the sound of security guards decked in a pilot’s outfit opening doors appeals to you.

The Grand Palace

To be honest, I felt quite ashamed to be calling myself a half-thai who has never been to the number 1 tourist attraction of Thailand, The Grand Palace, for 20 whole years of my life. Laugh at me if you want cause you can’t anymore!! Haha! We made it there this time!! The entrance fee was 500 baht, though a little pricey, but it would be worth it if you manage to visit all the museums the ticket allows entry to. Note: Thai Citizens are free to enter. AKA Mum got in free. -.-

My favourite out of all has got to be The Great Chakri Palace! The exterior of the building and the palace grounds are designed in an Italian Renaissance style while King Rama V ordered it to be embellish with Siamese stepped roofs to add a touch of home. Forming a harmonious fusion of East meets West architecture.

Touch up works going on here and there to the palace wall murals. The whole stretch of the wall murals surrounding the main ground tells a story of folklore and mythical creatures in common Thai stories. A pity that explanations of each part of the wall murals are in Thai only. I can’t read that and mum is too lazy to read every single one out to us… but I guess renting an audio guide at the entrance might help? 200 baht each though. Otherwise, you can be like me, use your own imagination. LAUGHS

We had planned for a visit to Wat Pho after visiting The Grand Palace but it started raining so heavily we abandoned that and took a bus down to the Siam Paragon area for late lunch since Asiatique only opens after 5pm. Taking a bus in Thailand was quite a unique experience as it definitely could take you down the memory lane ( if you are old enough, haha ) with the way they sell the tickets! There will be a bus conductor holding a long and slim metal cylinder going around to collect ticket fees. Once you board the bus, just get a seat first. The bus conductor will recognise you and approach you. Just tell them where you are going and they will tell you how much it cost. Did I mention it was real cheap?? We sat in an air-conditioned bus and it was 13 baht per person from The Grand Palace to Siam Paragon. If you are not sure what bus to take or where to board the bus, no worries as there is a tourist help booth opposite the road of the main entrance of TGP. Just cross the road and turn right and walk a little further down. They speak fluent english and even helped us flag for the bus out of no where. LAUGHS

Asiatique

We spent most of our time here just browsing around and doing some window shopping. But there are lots of eateries here that we really wanted to try if it wasn’t for the heavy late lunch we had. This is a great place to buy your souvenirs if you are like me and find that Chatukchak is too crowded/messy to shop in peace. They sell the same stuffs at the same price and the walkway is really spacious. Just look at us shopping for them  below! Ohh and we got a little playful as we stumbled upon an airbrush tattoo place and got some tatts… keke ( still too coward for a real one )

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Surprisingly I didn’t bother to take much photos here… probably cause I’ve already talked about it during my previous Thailand trip blog post. Just this time, I managed to stumble upon a stall selling some unconventional snacks… yes, fried insects!!! My heart was half excited and disgusted. I’ve always wanted to challenge my fear of these dead-alien-looking guys. Mum’s recommendation was the bamboo worms ( she said it’s confrim organic cause it wasn’t possible to rear them) and the silk worms. Okays, I skip the grasshoppers and such cause I don’t think I wanna get to the intermediate level so soon yet. JEEZ. And to be honest they taste quite alright. Probably cause of the seasoning powder.  If you chance upon them, challenge yourself to this tasty snack! Another bucket list item ticked off!

The Art Box

If you are a hipster then this is a must visit for you! The Art Box is a night market festival combining food, music and retail shops by local entrepreneurs. Though I’m a far cry from being a hipster, the food itself is enough to draw me in. BLAME IT ON INSTAGRAM. Do note that it’s location changes occasionally and it’s not open every week. Check for their latest update over at their Facebook page!

Pardon the quality for this cause I had to screenshot this from my video!

Shopping places includes the usual platinum mall which I managed to bag a few pieces of items home. We explored another more less known shopping mall to tourists, Union Mall, and it was pretty good! Very spacious and cooling place to shop at. It is more commonly frequent by locals and youths seeking for more unique fashion pieces. I managed to get some dresses while I’m there and I found a denim jacket that was perfect but it got an obvious lipstick stain on it!! * CRIES *

Part 3 of the trip that follows me back to my grandparents’ place and me visiting our friends and my cousin’s grandparents’ place at ChiangRai! If you love animals, you are gonna be in for a treat! Stay tune!

Love, Jaz

Thailand Trip 2015 Part 1 – Phuket

Coming to the end of the year, I am glad that I have managed to tick off many items from my bucket list with this trip! One of my resolutions for this year is to live fuller, play crazier and speak louder. So instead of the usual trip back to visit my grandparents, we went a little adventurous with this one! It was one hell of a trip with Phuket > Bangkok > Chiangmai > Chiangrai ! You ready? Leggo!

First stop, the heaven of water activities, Phuket!

There were loads of tour agencies right once you step outside of the arrivals gate. We decided to go with Phuket Friendship Tour since they spoke really good english, plus there was a group Singaporeans booking their tours from them too… *that Singaporean mentality* LAUGHS

Initially we planned to go snorkelling at the Phi Phi Islands ever since I’ve been mesmerised by it’s beauty on Instagram. But as our travel date shifted towards the end of the year, the Similan Islands that was only open for a limited period of time from November to May was an obvious choice! As a national park, the open season is part of its conservation measures. Which was great cause we were there on the first month it opened! Meaning we get the best of what it has to offer! We opted for the speedboat tour which was 3800 baht (SGD150) per person with 3 snorkelling spots, a lunch on the beach and vans to fetch us from our hotel to the ferry point. Being a lazy ass, we hired our one day tour driver from them as well at 2000 baht (SGD80) for 3 people!

Anyways, before you rush to grab your luggage and head out of the arrivals gate, look out for a little booth where they are handing out FREE TOURIST SIM CARDS! Isn’t it sweet?? Seriously every country should do this man…

Here is the deal for the 3G Tourist Inter Sim from one of Thailand’s telco, TRUE MOVE. All you need to do is to just present your passport! Thereafter, you can head on to 7-11 stores to top up your card and call these numbers to activate the unlimited data! I was planning to get the 30 days unlimited data since I’m gonna be in Thailand for a month. BUTTTTT thank god I hold my horses!

Fast forward to Bangkok a little, when I was trying to top up for my phone at Bangkok, the employee at 7-11 told us to get the 7 days unlimited data for 59baht instead. I was skeptical at first cause it’s too good to be true? You’re telling me I could just pay SGD2 for 7 days of unlimited data? I bet it will be some crappy slow internet. But no harm giving a shot? Nothing much for me to lose! Well, maybe just that 2 dollars. LAUGHS and… it didn’t disappoint me! The connection was good! It wasn’t lighting fast but it isn’t to point where I would give up on it! Good enough for me! Okays so that’s the end of my saga on saving that potentially $26 bill on data and spending a mere $7 for that 3 weeks!

After an hour ride from the airport, we arrived at our hotel! It was definitely a wonderful 4 day 3 night stay at Sugar Marina Fashion Resort! The location was superb as it’s just across the road from the end of Kata beach!

It’s my first time trying rolled ice cream! And its totally worth the hype for! It’s absolutely delish!! We had the cookies and cream with caramel syrup! For our second day in Phuket, we were out at the Sea for the whole day. Our tour van came to pick us up at our hotel at 6am and we set off for our speedboat snorkelling tour at 10am! Pardon our chui face cause…. hehe
First island that we made a brief stop at! The waters were so clear that I had to stop myself from jumping in for a splash! It took us 2 hours by speedboat to reach. See those little humans on the peak of that dangerously looking rock structures? YUPP, it was a YOLO moment as we climb up there to take some breathtaking photos below!  The view from the peak! The climb up was treacherous but totally worth it, though having mini heart attacks along the way cause a person with a fear of heights does not simply fit well with this. LAUGHS.  At another beach where we made a stop to have our lunch! The whole beach was filled with broken pieces of corals!  On our way back, we drove into a sea storm and that was the best feeling ever!! Absolutely thrilling! Feeling the rain water on your face while traveling at a high speed on the sea! Everyone was standing up on the speedboat looking out to the storm ahead of us. I guess this is much like life. Even if there is a storm ahead of us, we still got to brave through it to get to our destination. If you manage to overcome it, one less fear for you.

Second day was no less exciting as we mixed in sightseeing with some thrilling activities!  First stop was Phuket Big Buddha and on our way down, we took the elephant ride & AVT that has such a fabulous view of the sea from the high viewpoint!

How about some close encounters with the cousin of the king of the jungle? Yes please!! I hugged a baby tiger cub!! OMG!

Sometimes I would imagine myself to be a CIA Spy.. but then I realised it was just be watching too much Mission Impossible… LAUGHS! But trying my hands at shooting with a handgun definitely satisfied that little imagination of mine! 

I’ll continue to update on my trip in Thailand! You know it’s real procrastination when your trip was in 2015 and here I am typing this in 2016! Kidding, it’s only been a month since I’m back. Forgive me kays?

Love, Jaz

Seoul-Tastic 2015 Part 5 – Express Bus Terminal

After days of shopping non stop in a cosmetics-coma at places like Myeongdong and Lotte Mart, we felt we need to fulfill our body needs of dressing ourselves too. And with the recommendation of my cute Germaine check, we went to Express Bus Terminal to do some serious damage on our wallets. *LAUGHS*

PS// We were so engross in shopping that I actually forgot to take photos! Omg I feel so guilty now.

Express Bus Terminal is relatively close to Gangnam though. So I would recommend you all to visit Gangnam first in the day followed by a shopping madness at EBT! Cause I believe you won’t want to lug around your loots. If you think you won’t buy much, I would advice you to think again. Express Bus Terminal sells a wide range of stuffs! From apparel to antiques to home decos to kitchen wares to fabrics to fresh flowers! I swear if I live in korea, that would have been my heaven! And not to mention the food places at the end of each tunnel. It has the best JJiangmyeong (black bean noodles), Tokkbuki (rice cakes), Sun-dae (blood sausages) and Jambong (seafood soup noodles) we had eaten in Korea!

  

We came quite late in the afternoon, and I swear we could have needed more time to shop! The stuffs here are really cheap! Though there are some pricey apparel going for 20,000won but the 10,000won ones (SGD12) are what we are here for! There are plenty of dresses, tops, bottoms going for 10,000won or less at each shop! And can you imagine a shop selling handbags all at 10,000won?? It’s like a Daiso, but a handbag version! There’s no need to ask for the price cause it’s all 10,000won! Makes shopping so much easier! And the quality is really good for the price you are paying for! Sometimes I wonder why do we need to pay so much for a mediocre quality bag in SG. Even at bugis street. Yes. Bugis Street. The workmanship and material are really legit. The Koreans really take pride in their products. Even when mum used the bag I brought from Korea, she said her colleagues all thought it was of some atas brand name.

Look at all those lovely flowers! There is this flower section near the end of the basement shopping paradise where the food are. Loved how they even pack the flowers so nicely in those transparent carriers! I was so tempted to buy flowers for myself but I had to tell myself off to not wasting money cause we are going back to SG soon. To make matters worse, there is this shop selling loads of mirrors of all designs and shapes and sizes. I almost wanted to ship that full length mirror back. It’s even better than the ones from IKEA. Seriously, I’m looking forward to moving out and living on my own now.

I would totally be back here again to do some furniture shopping if my baggauge limit allows it.

If you haven read part 4 of my Seoul-Tastic series, click here to read it now!

Seoul-tastic 2015 Part 4 Insadong

Its the unofficial last day of our trip and with all the cultural aspect missing out in our itinerary, we made this trip down to visit Insadong which was really close by our place by bus! I swear near the end of the trip I had gotten tired of taking subways cause of the long walk just to transfer to the next train. So next time if you are in Korea, just try to be more adventurous and take the buses. Its kinda confusing and lost cause all the names of the stops are in hangul and only major tourist spots or places are labeled with English. But don’t fear cause nearing each stop, the bus will announce which stop it will be arriving at. Just don’t lose your focus! *LAUGHS*

Ssamzie-gil complex (쌈지길)

Street outside Ssamzie-gil complex building

The entrance! Loved the greens!

Getting tired of visiting all the shopping malls etc in Seoul, it’s a nice change of pace to visit Insadong and soak up on its cultural atmosphere. We did most of our souvenir shopping here as well & we brought some traditional drawstring bags and bookmarks for our friends and families. Wanted to show you all what I had brought but I realized I had given out the items by the time I do with this post!

Isadong was apparently near the Bukchon Hanok Village as well so if you are planning a visit to the place, you should definitely add this into your itinerary for that day!

And if you haven read Part 3 of my myeongdong shopping frenzy, Click here to read it now!

Seoul-tastic 2015 Part 3 – Myeongdong

Hey my friends! Welcome back to the most exciting post of this whole series! Crazy Myeongdong Shopping!! And if you don’t know how obsessed we are with shopping, we visited Myeongdong 3 times out of the 6 days we were in Seoul. Imagine the damage done. *LAUGHS

1. Cosmetic
Myeongdong is famous for being that street with all the famous Korean brand cosmetics you could think of. A true heaven for all cosmetic lovers. And I really love how natural, cheap and cute looking korea cosmetics were. Seriously, I don’t get why I would buy Make Up Forever, Urban Decay, Mac etc anymore when I could get something to do the exact same job at a fraction of it’s price.

Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly – 13,500 Won

Nature Republic

We visited the 3 storeys high flagship store of Nature Republic in Myeongdong and boy what a joy! Initially I thought the whole building was selling floors for the cosmetics but after the super nice and friendly sales assistant told me, I realized there was a CD album store on the 3rd level! 1st floor was where the main cosmetic shopping is done for regular shoppers. I had to act coy and ask her about the second level which actually was a more private shopping experience. We went up to the second level after I picked up some items and I was definitely surprised how it was so empty as compared to the super packed 1st level ! And with the sales lady with me, I definitely felt like a VIP with a personal shopper *LAUGHS* I asked what the second level is for if its usually so empty. She said it was mostly for those who plans to make bulk purchases and the sales person would pick up the items for them there while they wait.
Some of my loots above from Natural Republic! Hair Mask was on the top of my list as my hair has really lost some of its smoothness and vibrant these days. That’s why I boldly got 2 sets of its Argan Hair Mask and Essence (24,800 won). They are sold separately but its always more worth it to purchase them in the special price sets they have! I had never seen such cheap hair dye before and the adventurous part of me picked up it’s Hair Color Cream in Natural Brown (6,300 won) in the case I got tired of my wonderful/natural black>brown ombre hair! It claims to be natural and made with soy origins! Well, makes me less guilty about dying my hair all so often then! Got the the dome-shaped blusher (4,620 won) in Apple Pink and Coral as well. It looks creamy in consistency but it is actually non sticky and glides on like powder! Super chic! Will make a vlog and show you guys how well these product performs! And of course how could you not get your hands on the No.1 product of Nature Republic? The Aloe Vera Smoothing Gel (4,400 won)!! It’s a multi purpose product for your body and face! Use it as a moisturizer or to smooth your sunburns! I could have gotten more if it wasn’t more my luggage weight limit. 😦 I swear people who sell these in Singapore sold them at $10 per bottle when its half the price in Korea. Best thing about shopping at the brand your idols endorses? Freebies!! So lucky they are having this promo where every 30,000won you spent, entitles you to one notebook of the idol of your choice!! It was a tough decision between D.O, Kai, Xiumin and Sehun but I got Kai in the end:D Who could resist that shy naughty boy look?

Innisfree

Another brand that projects the natural Jeju source of cosmetic and skincare! Innisfree!! Got the Long Wear Cushion (20,000 won) which was perfect for the 365 summer weather Singapore is blessed with. The special package I got comes with a free face primer that aids in sebum control and smooths out your skin for a flawless canvas! A product that I had never seen before is the Anti-Darkening Fixer (10,000 won) that is a lightweight, non-sticky setting spray for a longer lasting makeup that creates a run-resistant barrier for a fresh looking makeup all day! All ladies who are lazy to touch up during mid day definitely need that!!
I’m big on lip products on this trip too so I’m definitely loving these Eco Flower Tint (6,000 won)! It is the best lip tint I brought in this trip! It smells heavenly, lightweight formula yet the colour payoff is great if you are into natural looking lips! I was so excited to try the Mineral Make Up Base with SPF30 (12,000 won) in green when I saw it! Main concern with my skin is that it gets red very easily. Therefore, instead of concealing it with layers of heavy foundation, a simpler way is to colour correct it first with a green make up base and voila! It neutralizes the redness! You don’t know how hopeful I was for this product cause I almost wanted to get the one from Make Up Forever which cost like $50 plus? 1/5 the price! OMG! Been loving this product since I got it! Does its job perfectly minus all the chemical shit unlike western products. This also comes in peach and purple! Another favorite of mine from them is its Mineral Blur Pact (12,000 won)! Wow I swear by this product from the first time I tried this, I was blown away! It really blurs out your face!! All those clogged pore bumps and uneven skin be gone! Also got its Mineral Blusher (7,000 won), Eco Eyebrow Pencil (3,500 won), Nail stickers (4,500 won), Face Mask Sheet 10s (1,000 won) and Jeju Volcanic Nose Pack (500 won) . (1,000 won = SGD$1.2)

2. Street Food

Street food vendors in Myeongdong usually starts to set up their stalls near the evening but we’ve seen some as early as 4pm. We find that the variety of street food is enough to keep up us from seeking restaurants, thus leaving more time for shopping! We tried all those crazy drool worthy looking food like twisted potatos, sweet & spicy fried herb chicken, jjangmyeong, grilled squid, hot cakes, rice cakes, egg bread and fresh pressed juices etc! One regret was not trying the dragon beard candy though.. but I’m guessing it might have tasted similar to the ones they sell in Singapore anyways! I will be back to try it I promise!!

Cocktail Sausages and Rice cakes wrapped in pancake

I swear this is one of my favs! Found at the stall in front of the flagship store of Natural Republic!

Dunkin’ Donuts!

Traditional Sugar Candy!

Corn Dog!!!!! Spamming that ketchup and mustard

3. Cat / Dog Cafes

And when you are in Myeongdong, how can you forget the no.1 thing to do on the list of all cat lovers?? CAT CAFE!!!! We kinda lost our way when we wanted to locate the cafe but never fear cause the mascot always seems to appear everywhere! Like lost kittens, we asked the mascot to bring us to the cafe! HAHA! The mascot escort us all the way to the cafe and we seriously felt like a VIP. The price for the cat cafe was really reasonable, you just need to get a drink which cost roughly 8,000 won or more if you want those artisan coffees but trust me, save that money to buy treats for the cats instead cause you and I know that you won’t be seating on that chair to enjoy your drink. Cause who would when you could be cuddling and playing with those adorable fluff balls?! And yes, some cats are over stimulated by the time we got there which is around 2pm? So if you want them to pay some attention to you do make yourself more attractive by getting yourself a pack of treats. Okays so are you ready for cuteness heart attacks?

Counter Ladies~

I seriously thought this cat looked like a dog here

Yes, pet me all you want human

This is my bae

Bae just woke up

I woke up like this. 😉

awww so cute… sleeps just like me hehe

“let’s take a selfie” how about no human?

Apparently there were some dog cafes in Myeongdong as well but due to time constraint we did not visit them 😦 But all is well, I will be back again I promised!

4. International Footwear Brands

Loads of Nike, Adidas, New Balance, etc to be found here!! ABC Mart, Footlocker and Leftfoot will be your best friend here. I found it quite worth a visit as the designs they have here are definitely much more than in Singapore, less pricey but I would say if you are someone who doesn’t really care about a particular design of shoes to get or wants the latest design but only seeks for something decent and under $100, you are better off searching for them at outlets stores in Singapore or check out the brands when they have sales. Shoes over here cost over SGD100 on average so I don’t feel it is that much cheaper. Moreover, you have to use up quite a bit of luggage space for it too. But lucky me, I got an Adidas shoe for 89,000 won which converts to roughly SGD106 at OUTLET SALES at Lotte Outlet Mall. Did a little check online and found out its retailing at USD90 which converts to SGD121… so that is not that much of a discount coming from an outlet sales… okays, I’m kinda sad now… but it’s alright… better than nothing right? Most of the other shoes I see was above 100,000 won (SGD124) anyways! And I can’t wait to wear this baby out!

Alrights! Sorry guys I’m not that good of a writer so if you have any questions you can ask me in the comments section down below! I’ll try to be your fairy godmother and answer your questions to my best of my knowledge!

And if you haven read my Part 2 on HongDae, what are you waiting for?? Click here and get your asses there right now! Till the next part… toodles!!!

Seoul-Tastic 2015 Part 2 – Hongdae

Hey all! Here is part 2 of my whole Seoul trip blog series! This time I will introduce HONGDAE! Famous for its hipster vibe and trendy youth fashion! We visited the famous sheep cafe ( Thanks Nature Cafe) there and brought loads of cute stuffs!

Tip! When you get to Hongdae, do visit the Tourist Information Center there first and get a map of the area! Same goes for Myeongdong! I swear they have the most detailed maps you can ever find on the area! It was a breeze to find any store or navigate your way around the area like a pro! We visited the center to get information one how to get to the sheep cafe and they speak perfect English and gave us this detailed map of the area!

Anyways, we found our way pretty quick to the sheep cafe! Take a look at those cuties!

This is my first time up close with sheeps… although I adore them but I was praying so hard for them to not come too close to me the whole time. I’m scared!!! But they were pretty chill and keep meeeeehhhhhh-ing away the whole time we were at the cafe. We could hear them all the way from the indoor cafe area! To be honest, I don’t really have much hopes for the food quality wise of the cafe as per my experience with Singapore’s cafes, if the main highlight of the cafe is something else other than the food, then they would slacken at the food department since money be rolling in anyways. You get me don’t you?

But I had watched Sweet&Tasty ‘s youtube video where she visited the cafe and highly recommended the green tea waffles! So we got that and Honey Bread! ( Go watch her videos for ideas on korea btw! Loved her! ) Prepare your hearts for a virtual feast! Don’t blame me if you have a sudden sinful craving!

The food was absolutely glorious! Looks good and taste good! Singapore cafes, you’ve got a lot of soul searching to do! It was the best cafe we had in Korea! Even the thematic interior looks cosy!

I did film a video of the whole cafe! I’m planning to edit the video of own seoul trip soon together for you guys! Wait for it! Here’s all the other scrumptious looking food from the menu!

Thinking back it’s funny I didn’t try to get a selfie with the sheeps. Probably was feeling too chill that day *LAUGHS*

When into this huge Artbox store in Hongdae after we left the cafe to wander about the area! You have no idea how much I love exploring new places. The Artbox there definitely has more variety selling all this under the roof. It’s like our cuter stationary version of Watsons. They got toys, stationary, bags and confectioneries etc. I’ve got some cute notebooks from there for as low as 1800 Won! Word of advice, do your stationary shopping there! We came by this store called ACC:SCENT selling really cute and unique accessories near Lush! It’s my favorite shop if you ask me! Even as a non-fan of accessories, I brought 2 earrings, 2 rings and a sunny there! That’s probably the amount of accessories I would buy yearly. *LAUGHS* And I really regret not getting that pug tote that I saw there kays? It was so cute and stylish that I totally wouldn’t mind carrying it around.. *cries* Brought this cool and lightweight Adidas Tote from the Adidas Originals store in Hongdae as well! And that’s where the girls spotted their cute guy who they can’t forget throughout the whole trip! We even when back a second time during our hair appointment but too bad he is not working that day. The girls really regretted not taking a photo with him! KEKEKE

And we stumbled upon a Hello Kitty Cafe there while getting lost in Hongdae too! Not a fan of that kitty cat but since we are here… might as well!

Although we did have plans for Hongdae Night Life in our itinerary, we were too tired every night we came home from all those intensive shopping trips that our night life is just ordering delivery.

With help from our Airbnb host, we had delicious chicken delivered to us!! Korea is big on that Chicken + Beer combo that it was a must try for us too! But we replaced beer with Soju cause we are chill like that. We always see Koreans drowning their soju shots in dramas that we thought it must have tasted great but it tasted like alcohol swaps. EWWW!! We only had like a sip each and gave up on the whole soju bottle *LAUGHS*

We ordered half spicy half non spicy!

Our host was so funny we could not even figure out what he is talking about about that ” Are you ready to eat best spicy?” when we received his message, we though he was implying his gonna order the most spicy level of that chicken for us and we are like shit.. do we say yes or no?! And we were like YOLO! Like what’s the worse that could happen to us right? Drowning it down with the Banana milks in our fridge or the children hospital was like 5 mins walk from our place. *LAUGHS*

Hongdae was really huge and there’s plenty to explore. Too bad we had limited time there! We haven went to Hongik University too! Will be back I promise!

If you haven read about part 1 of my journey, here you go!

Seoul-tastic 2015 Part 1 – Onboard Cathay Pacific

Disclaimer: To those who are not interested in my flight journey from Singapore to Seoul, you may skip this part.

Hey guys! So some of you may think why in the world would I write about something as boring as my flight journey cause ain’t no bitch wanna know about your ass sitting for 9-10 hours. But I wanna share my first ever experience on taking a transfer flight with no idea of what to expect for it. I tried searching the net for some other people’s experience with a transfer flight especially transferring at Hong Kong but I realised there’s a lack for that information so that’s the main reason for this post. I was hesitant at first about taking a transfer flight to Korea, especially when it’s my first time flying with my friends only. (AKA no parental guidance) I was kinda worried about losing my way to the gate for the next flight etc and missing my flight, stuck in a foreign country and all. But I guess one day I have to grown up and experience all these so YOLO and I book my tickets with Cathay Pacific from Singapore > Hong Kong (transfer) > Incheon Airport. *Applause, Thank You*

I travelled with my friend Darrellen and planned on meeting Rachel at Incheon Airport. Our flight was 9.55am and was set to arrive at Incheon at 9.30pm. (12 hrs Jaz! What the heck are you thinking when u book that flight?) One day lost I guess.

 

Need to claim our sanity back

So off we go to Hong Kong for a transfer flight of 2 hrs looking energetic and bright faced. Which wasn’t the case anymore when we travel back from Seoul to Singapore. It’s hilarious but I’ll hold up with the details for now!

We managed to have time to shop around the transit hall a little! Wanted to buy some of these Hong Kong delights though! That is if we had left over money from Korea’s shopping but who knows we were so broke on the last day of our trip! :’D *I’ll get you all when I visit Hong Kong legit next time*

Transiting from our arrival gate was kind of confusing cause we know nuts about the place. But I recommend you all to ask the airport crew who are holding up signs of your transiting flight when you get down the plane. Don’t try to act smart and walk away thinking you can find your way cause we did that once and bam! lost. But that’s transiting in Taiwan later on our flight back so I’ll get to that soon.

Apparently we had to go thru security checks twice and take a shuttle train to another terminal to board our connecting flight to Seoul.

In the shuttle train madness

Arrived at our boarding gate! And we see all the Koreans there! Woohoo~ getting that korean vibe already!  The inflight meal was mediocre. I had beef with mash potato and it was a little greasy for my liking. First time I did not enjoy my inflight meal… but I am always looking forward to that Häagen-Dazs ice cream afterwards:) Nothing a little ice cream can’t fix!

Arrived at Incheon Airport at 9.30pm and we were met with this… it doesn’t seem like a long wait in this picture cause I only took it after a near 30 mins of waiting. The immigration were so packed that we queued for 45 mins before we get to our luggage and we could not find information on our belt number and thought our luggage might have been moved to the LOST & FOUND. Thankfully it’s still on the belt that has STOPPED. *LAUGHS* My face while waiting in line for immigration. Its in times like this I truly appreciate the self immigration counters in Singapore airport for Singaporeans & PRs. It looks like a Mrt Tap In/Out and you just had to scan your passport, followed by a thumbprint scan and voila! Less than 5 mins and you are good to go! Ever since that automated clearance system became available, I had never gone back to seeing the faces of those immigration officers in Singapore. LOL

Three Insane Girls have finally reunited

FYI: We slept at the airport for the night as all the trains had stopped when we arrived. And yes, it’s perfectly normal and safe to sleep at the airport! We saw many ahjussi doing that! I even posted a video on our beautiful sleeping posture on my instagram @jaznale .

So that’s all for now and I know you wanna get to the exciting part soon! Stay tune and I’ll try to post it by this week! Goodnight everyone!

Gald To Be Back

If it wasn’t me or… it has been long since I’m back! Its funny how every single post of my has this as an opening. Shows how much I had not been consistent in updating you guys huh? Should just set this as an default opening intro for all my posts?… LMAO!

Its been hella of a week for me! I was just back from my Korea Trip last Wednesday and I started work the day after. Thank god I managed to finish unpacking within a day! Otherwise I would have leftover work to do today instead of enjoying my off day!

I am sure most of you are interested to know more about my Spring 2015 Korea Trip right? I am equally excited to share it with you all! For the sake of those who might wanna use my experiences as guide or reference for your own Korea trip planning, I will be organizing them for ya and thus might take a some time okays? Good things comes to those who wait! *winks*

Alrights! I hear your complains already! So I shall say good bye to you first while I hide at one corner of my room to slave out the post for ya all! For those who can’t wait, maybe check out my Instagram account @jaznale to follow up with my silly-ness will ya? 😉 See you all soon!!